Molecular characterization of salinity tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to estimate the genetical variability of three salt-resistant genotypes, SARC-1, SARC-5 and S-24, exposed to saline environment. High-yielding and salt-sensitive variety MH-97 was used as standard for comparison. The behavior of these genotypes under saline environment was analyzed by using the hydroponics screening methods at the seedling stage. One hundred and fifty primers were tested of which 52 primers revealed differences between SARC-1 and SARC-5, 54 revealed differences between SARC-1 and S-24 and 61 revealed differences between SARC-5 and S-24. Polymorphism differences between MH-97 and SARC-1, MH-97 and SARC-5 and MH-97 and S-24 were 53%, 64% and 42%, respectively. Four primer pairs amplified special fragments, which were located in all the three salt-resistant genotypes but none on the salt-sensitive genotype MH-97. Primer GLD-15 (5'-CCGTGGCATT-3') generated a prominent fragment of length 1460bp; primer GLF-18 (5'-ACCCGGAACC-3') produced a fragment of length nearly 980bp in the salt-resistant genotype; the primer pair GLE-5 (5'-TTCAAGCCCG-3') located one polymorphic amplified band of 1290bp and the primer GLH-9 (5'-ATCCAGGTCA-3') performed as a weak polymorphic band of 640bp, respectively.